There’s never been a better time to buy wine. Equally, there’s never been a more confusing time for wine drinkers. For the very glut of producers and labels currently forcing prices down forms an intimidating wall of brands that confounds even professional wine judges. The diversity of choice and competition-driven low pricing is good, of … Continue reading There’s gold in them thar liquor stores
David Farmer — former Canberra wine merchant, in town last week to launch his new Barossa-based business, Glug — believes traditional liquor retailing has gone forever to Coles and Woolworths. Even after the current margin-sapping wine glut clears, consolidation among producers and retailers virtually ensures a changing landscape. For independent retailers that means finding a … Continue reading Farmer finds independent retail niche
Rose’s long predicted moment in the sun may, at last, have arrived – in a very small but dynamic way. According to A.C. Nielsen, Australian retail sales of bottled rose grew 108.3 per cent by volume and 79.5 per cent by value in the year to November 2004. By the end of December, says Orlando-Wyndham’s … Continue reading Rosé — a bland, surplus-driven boom
A collation of my Canberra Times articles published between January and March 2000 January 23 2000 Along New South Wales’ Great Divide — from Tooma and Tumbarumba in the south, heading north through Gundagai, Canberra, Yass, Young, Harden, Cowra, Cudal and Cargo, to the cool heights of Orange’s Mount Canobolas and on to Mudgee – … Continue reading Orange a bright star on the NSW Great Dividing Range
‘Wynnsday’ seemed a dumb idea at the outset, but it’s become an important day for Australia’s wine trade and consumers. It also marks the birth of brand marketing in Australian wine and heralds the rise of supermarkets and decline of independents in Australia’s fine wine market.
A visionary decision by Colin Preece saw riesling planted at Mitchelton on Victoria’s Goulburn River, half a continent from the variety’s Aussie home in the Clare and Eden Valleys.